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==Image Gallery==
 
==Image Gallery==
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<gallery widths="120">
 
File:Type-61-uc-hardgraph.jpg|The Type 61 as it appears in the UC HardGraph kit series.
 
File:Type-61-uc-hardgraph.jpg|The Type 61 as it appears in the UC HardGraph kit series.
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Type61msigloo.jpg|The Type 61 Tank as seen in MS Igloo
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
 
==Reference==
 
==Reference==

Revision as of 21:06, 1 April 2010

The Type 61 main battle tank is a type of ground weapon in the animation series Mobile Suit Gundam. It was fielded by the Earth Federation in U.C.0061 and saw service to at least U.C.0079. The Type 61 tank featured dual 150 mm cannons and a 12.7 mm machine gun, as well as eight smoke dispensers. There were also a wide selection of variants made for transport and troop deployment.

After the Zeon forces introduced the Zaku as a mainstay war machine in the One Year War, the Type 61 became practically obsolete, as Minovsky interference heavily undermined the tank's tactical communication abilities and also reduced its firing accuracy except at close ranges, but at these ranges it lacks enough gun elevation to hit critical parts of the mobile suit. Another disadvantage was that mobile suits, being highly agile humanoid robots, could outmaneuver the slow-moving tanks at close distances and dodge tank rounds with ease, as well as attacking the tank from the top. After Zeon initiated their Earth Drop Operation in March U.C.0079, Type 61s soon began to become the norm for protecting ground transports from attacks by the Magella Attack Tanks and were crucial in the Capture of Odessa and Defense at Jaburo where the Federation armor took most of the burden. Type 61 was one of the most heavily deployed military hardware in the One Year War, and also among the greatest casualties.

While greatly lacking anti-MS weapons, Type 61s could be a serious threat to Zeon ground forces if correct tactics were used. They have a much smaller frontal visual projection and can be easily camouflaged for ambush operations. Employing ranged massed-fire tactics can be very effective in suppressing enemy positions (as evident in the Odessa Campaign). The tank's smaller size is also an advantage in hit-and-run missions, especially on harassing raid on Zeon supply depots (which are often undermanned in defence), or between the tight, narrow streets of urban warfare. Before the formal introduction of Federation's RGM-79 GM mobile suits, Type 61s were Federation's backbone of resistance in their bitter 9-month stalemate against the Principality of Zeon.

In the strategy games series Gihren's Greed, the Type 61 functions as the Earth Federation Forces' only ground unit until the Project V is completed. As in the series, the Type 61s are no match for mobile suits in equal numbers. However, because they take up much fewer resources than mobile suits, it is possible to recapture large areas of Earth territory from Zeon by the sheer weight of numbers. Needless to say, when in the war's focus shifts into space, the Type 61's importance become minute (though the RB-79 Balls perform a similar function spacewise).

Two new variants were shown in the MS IGLOO 2 — the Type 61's 3rd variant type of the Mk. 5 version and the commanding tank version. The main dual cannons are upgraded to 155 mm caliber smoothbore capable of firing APFSDS, flashbang and HEI munitions with autoloader. This up-gunned design severely depletes the internal room of the turret, restricting the crews to only the driver and the commander (who also assumes the role of the gunner).

Image Gallery

Reference

Template:Universal Century vehicles